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Post by elosha11 on Jul 30, 2015 11:56:24 GMT 5
French paleontologist Jean-Loup Welcomme, who owns a collection of 25 000 sharks teeth, said me something interesting : The largest piece of Megaselachus megalodon I have seen is at the Museum of Angers and is 22 cm high , calculated between the base ( between both ends of the roots) and the apex. This tooth came from the faluns in the east of Angers, genuine; old crop . The deposit has disappeared. I visited it and everything is re-cultured since a long time . I only found several large teeth in my life , and the largest comes from Terhaegen at the south of Antwerp, above the Rupelian Clay of Boom and is 17 cm.Only I've joined by call the guys from the Museum, they said me the largest teeth they have are 17 cm and they've not heard of that huge piece but they say they have about 50 000 fossils and some are stored since a long so they're not sure. I'm trying to get more for Dr. Welcomme, of course I'm taking this cautiously but this guy is a renowned paleontologist, he has experience with sharks teeth and the precision of his claim is interesting. This reminds a mention of a guy named Case in the Guiness, who reported a 21 cm tooth, or the dinner-plate sized specimens from Scharp's book. IMO a 22 cm toth would cancel the debate wheter meg reached 20 m. Great info, thanks. In my mind the pic you posted a little while back in this thread of that tooth this is just a hair under 8 inches also puts me closer to the conclusion that Meg reached 20 meters. A 22 cm tooth would definitely make that even more clear. BTW Dr. Welcomme is stating it was b/t the base and the apex, which if I'm understanding him correctly is not a measurement along the slant height. Slant height measurement of such a tooth would likely exceed 22 cms. It's hard to believe that such a gigantic tooth could be lost, but anything is possible. Would be a shame if it was lost or stolen. Can he give you any more details about exactly where/when he saw it? It might help them track it down. Who is Scharp and what are these references to dinner plate sized teeth? Are there pictures of them in his book? |
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Post by Grey on Jul 30, 2015 13:16:01 GMT 5
I have some doubts about the almost 8 incher I posted earlier, I prefer to ignore it. Yes, he precisely meant not the slant height but the vertical height, so that's pretty interesting indeed. I'm awaiting a new response from him. Scharp is the author of a book about sharks published in 1975, Shark Safari. I refer to this :  He claims that a number of 7 and 8 inch teeth have been collected from "one of the phosphate pits of Polk County, Florida" (probably Bone Valley). He also claims that these teeth "do exist and their authenticity has been established." Further, he reports an unmeasured tooth from this site that is "the size of a dinner plate". |
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Post by elosha11 on Jul 30, 2015 19:17:58 GMT 5
I have some doubts about the almost 8 incher I posted earlier, I prefer to ignore it. Yes, he precisely meant not the slant height but the vertical height, so that's pretty interesting indeed. I'm awaiting a new response from him. Scharp is the author of a book about sharks published in 1975, Shark Safari. I refer to this : He claims that a number of 7 and 8 inch teeth have been collected from "one of the phosphate pits of Polk County, Florida" (probably Bone Valley). He also claims that these teeth "do exist and their authenticity has been established." Further, he reports an unmeasured tooth from this site that is "the size of a dinner plate". What are your doubts about the earlier posting? Is it fake or restored to be larger? Maybe the angle of the ruler is misleading but it still looks like a tooth that's at least 19 cm. |
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Post by Grey on Jul 31, 2015 6:10:18 GMT 5
I suspect it is restored too much and maybe composite. Sundell says it's not but I m just unsure.
I prefer to focus on Dr. Welcomme's information.
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Post by Life on Aug 3, 2015 0:51:20 GMT 5
I ll don t buy any details from the peruvian meg skeleton for now. Hönninger often said conflicting things about it. All what we know is that it is large. Why doesn't Mr. Honninger document the entire skeleton? If he cannot get it excavated, the least he can do is to document the entire skeleton and make it public. I suspect it is restored too much and maybe composite. Sundell says it's not but I m just unsure. I prefer to focus on Dr. Welcomme's information. I really dislike restoration attempts. People should try to make copies of the original specimen and restore the copies. |
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Post by theropod on Aug 3, 2015 2:56:18 GMT 5
The caption sais it’s only a plaster cast to begin with.
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Post by elosha11 on Aug 9, 2015 23:49:19 GMT 5
Why doesn't Mr. Honninger document the entire skeleton? If he cannot get it excavated, the least he can do is to document the entire skeleton and make it public. Trust me Life, I've tried a lot to get Klaus Honniger to do just as you suggest, as has Grey. We've put him in touch with NG, Discovery, and scientists here in the U.S. We've been on the verge of getting a documentary about it. However, all of this is complicated by Peruvian law re fossil excavation, risk of poaching, and possible damage to the fossils done by the auto races they have in the desert. and Klaus, to be honest, has a lot of enemies, both political and from fellow fossil hunters/paleontologists. He's a bit of a crusader and definitely a polarizing figure. Lots of complications. I'm still trying to work with him, but Klaus recently got married, and seems to have a hundred things on his plate. Don't know how much success I'll have. There are rumours that Klaus is also seeking aid from German paleontologists, so maybe they will eventually help him disclose this. Or maybe it will get stolen, lost, destroyed or never brought to light. That would truly be a travesty, but it's a distinct possibility. At least we got the tantalizing pictures of the Meg skeleton here on WoA, but it's obviously just the tip of the iceberg. |
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Post by Grey on Aug 10, 2015 1:23:43 GMT 5
I believe Klaus was going to give a talk about the megalodon this summer but I don't know if it happened.
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Post by elosha11 on Aug 10, 2015 2:08:25 GMT 5
I believe Klaus was going to give a talk about the megalodon this summer but I don't know if it happened. Really...I hadn't heard that. Do you know any details of the talk, was he supposed be be speaking to a general audience or just scientists? |
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Post by Life on Aug 24, 2015 20:22:48 GMT 5
Why doesn't Mr. Honninger document the entire skeleton? If he cannot get it excavated, the least he can do is to document the entire skeleton and make it public. Trust me Life, I've tried a lot to get Klaus Honniger to do just as you suggest, as has Grey. We've put him in touch with NG, Discovery, and scientists here in the U.S. We've been on the verge of getting a documentary about it. However, all of this is complicated by Peruvian law re fossil excavation, risk of poaching, and possible damage to the fossils done by the auto races they have in the desert. and Klaus, to be honest, has a lot of enemies, both political and from fellow fossil hunters/paleontologists. He's a bit of a crusader and definitely a polarizing figure. Lots of complications. I'm still trying to work with him, but Klaus recently got married, and seems to have a hundred things on his plate. Don't know how much success I'll have. There are rumours that Klaus is also seeking aid from German paleontologists, so maybe they will eventually help him disclose this. Or maybe it will get stolen, lost, destroyed or never brought to light. That would truly be a travesty, but it's a distinct possibility. At least we got the tantalizing pictures of the Meg skeleton here on WoA, but it's obviously just the tip of the iceberg. Thanks for the update. But their must be some way to get this specimen documented. Seriously, nobody is interested in documenting a presumably well-preserved Megalodon specimen? Not even American scientists? |
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Post by theropod on Aug 24, 2015 21:35:49 GMT 5
That really is hard to swallow.
But then, why exactly have these findings not been publicised anywhere? That would certainly help getting people motivated to preserve and study them.
They just can't do that if they don't even know these fossils exist, so what's the reason for not making a nice big photo and writing an article about them to let the world know what they have found?
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stomatopod
Junior Member
Gluttonous Auchenipterid
Posts: 182
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Post by stomatopod on Aug 25, 2015 11:38:11 GMT 5
Klaus has written a E-Book on his discovery, ofc in Spanish, but it was an easy read.
For proper scientific documentation, the skeleton needs to be excavated, which is in hard bentonite and under current law illegal.
And gathering from his FB posts, there are some people out to get him. He is also an advocate of indigenous rights and cultur.
I do not think that it is humanly possible to win this fight, but one can always hope.
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Post by Grey on Aug 25, 2015 22:31:01 GMT 5
Yes it is not beyond conception that such a fossil could never be properly excavated. Paleontologists working in Peru know this well. French paleontologist Gilles Cunny told me he almost finished in jail when he was working there. They're paranoid with paleontologists and the black market doesn't help.
Currently, about studies focused on good remains of C. megalodon, I've more hope regarding the future re-examination of the Belgian backbone by Pimiento.
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Post by theropod on Aug 25, 2015 23:12:43 GMT 5
Concerning that vertebral collumn, back when Gottfried et al. mentioned it they said it was on display in Brussels, is that still the case? If so, has anyone here ever had the chance to see it in person?
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Post by Grey on Aug 25, 2015 23:16:16 GMT 5
I had contacted the Museum,,the backbone is stored since a long. They told me Pimiento was going to examine it and they plan to maybe exhibit again in the future.
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